Breaking — [Viscount Raimsal Commits Suicide! A note was discovered, detailing his recent failures in the conflict against the Evenus Barony. Overcome with shame, the Viscount took his own life to spare his people from further suffering. As stated in the letter, Baron Evenus will assume ownership of the lands formerly held by Viscount Raimsal.]

News of the conflict between the Evenus Household and Viscount Raimsal made waves across the Empire.

It took the Empire by storm.

Not only did these events unfold swiftly, but the fact that a Barony managed to triumph over a Household significantly larger than itself sparked widespread interest among the people.

Who didn't like underdog stories?

Furthermore, the Evenus Household had also risen to fame quite recently due to two individuals.

The Twin Stars of the Evenus Household.

"Wow, it looks like I might have to move to the Evenus Barony. Things will start to prosper there."

"Opening up a business there might be a good idea."

"We should hurry up before it's too late. I'm betting a lot of people are already jumping at the opportunity."

Merchants, business owners, and citizens started to flock and move towards the Evenus territories.

Not only did they have two of the most promising youths in the entire Empire, but they also showed extreme promise with their recent conquest of the Raimsal County.

But if things weren't heated enough...

Another news article came out.

Breaking- [The Kaliak, Mainz, and Hindua Baronies have officially fallen under the jurisdiction of the the Evenus Household. With the aid of the Verlice Household, the Evenus Barony has yet again managed to expand their lands.]

Just like the first article, this new article spread like wildfire.

It shed light on the other conflict that was occurring within the Evenus Household.

Not only were they fighting against Viscount Raimsal, but they were also being attacked by three different Baronies.

The sudden piece of news sent the citizens into uproar.

.....And the uproar only grew once they learned of the fact that the Evenus Barony had emerged victorious in that conflict as well.

By now, the fame of the Evenus Household had reached every corner of the Empire.

There was no one citizen that was not aware of them.

A single Barony had managed to defeat one County and three Baronies.

Many titled this as the Miracle of the Evenus Household.

.....And a new figure emerged to prominence, alongside his new title.

The Hand-Aldric Evenus.

The mastermind behind everything and the Family Head.

Despite the turmoil beyond its borders, the Evenus Barony estate remained unusually quiet.

The Family Head's office was especially quiet.

A lot of the matters had been settled, and he was now just reaping the rewards of his efforts. This had been many years in the making, and finally, he could breathe in peace.

At least... for a few minutes.

To Tok-

The silence was disrupted by a knock at the door. Lifting his head, the Baron looked towards the door with a frown.

"Come in."

Clank!

One of his vassals entered shortly after.

They had a solemn look on their faces as they walked in with a letter in hand. From the air of solemness the vassal held the letter, Aldric understood it was an important letter.

"This is...?"

Aldric was initially confused, but his expression quickly shifted as he recognized the insignia imprinted on the letter.

It depicted a three-headed Cerberus, restrained by a single individual with a leash.

'Central...'

The atmosphere grew tense.

"You may go.

Picking up the letter, Aldric dismissed the vassal before sitting down on the table where he set the letter.

He stared at the letter in silence for a few moments, then slowly pulled out a small silver knife and carefully slit it open.

To: Aldric Evenus

This letter serves to formally inform you of Central's interest in your potential involvement. A delegate will arrive within a few days of your receipt of this letter to discuss your possible enrollment in the organization.

We eagerly anticipate the possibility of cooperation between your Household and Central. Your recent feats have made us in awe of your...

The letter was neither short nor long.

However, after the first few sentences, Aldric no longer paid attention to the content. It was needless flattery he was not interested in reading.

He was also not in the mood for them.

Тар. Тар.

As his finger drummed over the wooden table, his brows slowly started to tighten

"Central..."

He mumbled, his fingers stopping.

"....They've come faster than I expected."

***

11

.....

11

I held my stomach while staring at the news article presented before me. Leon, who sat next

to me, also showed a similar reaction as he struggled to keep his breakfast in his stomach.

"What are you guys doing?"

Evelyn, who sat not far from us, looked at us with a weird look.

".... What is wrong with you two?"

Coming closer, she looked at the paper on the table and picked it up.

"Isn't this the recent news article that came out? What's wrong with it?"

She then started to read it aloud.

"The rise of the Evenus Household. From an unknown Barony to the hottest topic of recent times. How did such a small Barony manage to rise so fast? Was it the brilliant mind of the

Family Head, or the birth of the Twin St-"

"....!"

"!!"

Evelyn stopped while looking at us.

Her brows tightened as she lowered her head to stare at the paper.

"...or the birth of the twi-"

"!"

As if we were in sync, our faces changed at the same time. We had moved past the gagging

stages but it was still painful to hear.

Evelyn looked at us with a weird look. Then, suddenly understanding the crux of the problem,

she repeated the same words several more times.

"Twin Sta-"

"Okay, that's enough."

"H.."

Leon's cheeks inflated as the food he so struggled to keep in his mouth threatened to spill out

of his mouth.

It was only when Evelyn saw this that she finally stopped.

"You've got to be kidding me, right? It can't be that bad, can it...? The nickname doesn't even

sound that bad. You guys are being so immature. You're both nearing your twenties. How can

you two be acting like this...? Why are you guys..."

"Just stop talking."

I held out my hand to stop Evelyn from speaking.

She was like a machine gun. Words just continued to spill out of her mouth with no end in

sight.

It had to stop.

Ever since the mine incident, she stopped being so reserved with me. While she was still not

exactly close to me, she seemed to have thrown away the reservations she had against me.

'I think she just stopped regarding me as the previous Julien.'

She was now treating me as a different person entirely.

I wasn't sure what brought the sudden change... perhaps the third leaf, or maybe not, but

whatever I did, I regretted it.

Bring back the old Evelyn.

"Ugh."

My head hurt as much as my stomach did.

Evelyn frowned while looking at the two of us, but she got the message after seeing how

much Leon was struggling. That was when we finally got our moment of peace as we both sighed in relief.

.....At least, that was what I thought at first.

"Did the Family Head tell you guys about what is happening soon?"

"Hm?"

"....?"

Leon and I both looked at her in confusion.

Seeing the confusion on our faces, Evelyn looked a little surprised.

"Wait, don't tell me you guys didn't get told, right?"

"About?"

"....The fact that your Household was just invited into Central. From what I know they're

sending delegates to your House today. In fact, they should already be here, talking to the

Family Head."

"Eh?"

I blinked my eyes and looked at Leon who also seemed confused.

Why weren't we made aware of this?

"Did you guys not notice the changes in the Household at all? The decorations and the new

clothes the maids and servants are wearing...?"

"...Now that you mention it, I did notice a few changes here and there."

"Right, so you didn't..."

Evelyn covered her face with her hand.

I scratched the top of my head.

"You can't really blame Leon and me for this. We were busy training for the past few days."

The two of us had holed up at the back of the Household in order to train. There were a lot of

moves that I wanted to try out on him.

In exchange for that, I had to help him with the footwork.

It was a fair deal.

...And it was for that reason that we had no time to pay attention to our surroundings.

'So that's what happened.'

A lot of things started to make sense.

However, after a brief realization, I stopped caring. Whatever the situation was, it had

nothing to do with me.

In a few days, we were set to return to the Academy.

I started to miss the place.

"Julien."

While I didn't get the vacation that I wanted, this was still good enough for me.

"...Hey."

I had managed to train in peace like I desired and learned a few things about the previous

Julien. All in all, this was a fruitful trip.

"Hey!"

"Eah?"

I was suddenly startled out of my thoughts as Evelyn's face appeared a few inches away from

mine.

I blinked a few times, and once Evelyn was sure she had my attention, she leaned back

slightly, her gaze unwavering.

"....What was that for?"

"It's what I'd like to say. I was speaking when you suddenly zoned out of it."

"Right..."

That did happen.

"In any case, my father will be coming to the estate."

"Hm?"

My body suddenly grew rigid as I flicked my head in her direction. "Your father?"

"Yes. That's why I've been trying to get your attention."

All of a sudden, Evelyn bit her lips and I started to have a bad feeling.

"He told me a couple of days ago. There's a chance that he's coming here to represent Central,

but there's also a chance that he might bring up... You know..."

Evelyn avoided my eyes as she struggled to complete her sentence.

.... And I didn't need her to. I fully understood what she meant as my expression fell.

"There's a chance they might try to engage us.'

Given how much they had helped recently, this was a very real possibility and the thought

made my heart sink.

'I need to stop this.'

Things would become extremely messy if the two of us were set to be engaged.

We needed to find a way to stop this before it happened. Thankfully, Evelyn appeared to be on the same page as me. She was just about to open her

mouth when a voice called us from behind.

"Young Master, Leon, and Miss Verlice."

We all grew stiff at once.

"....The Family Head is calling for you to his office. There's something he'd like to discuss

with all three of you."